Does porn lead to addiction?

What is the official verdict of scientists? Some experts claim that such diagnosis as porn addiction was only a way to get money from patients

Some American scientists were able to prove that patients were not addicted, which means that there was no such disease. Although, of course, this does not mean that there are no problems with pornography at all. But they are of criminal essence, not medical.

Long-term studies at the University of California confirm that the brain does not respond to a hot photo in the same way that a smoker’s brain reacts to a cigarette image. Therefore, it is hard to talk about any kind of addiction

More details

122 people, both men, and women participated in the experiment. They were asked several questions, the answers to which revealed the respondents’ attitude to visual sexual stimuli and identified those participants for whom porn could become a problem.

Then participants were shown photos of several kinds:

pleasant as pictures of scuba diving

neutral – portraits;

and unpleasant, for example, photos of disfigured human bodies.

And of course photos of sexual content. At the same time, the electroencephalogram was used to study the electrical activity of the brain of these people

Scientists, first of all, were interested in whether the brain of porn lovers exhibits an activity comparable to the activity that is typical for addiction when they see a sexual content picture. The result was unequivocal: nothing of the kind was revealed.

Pros & Cons

Scientists explain that if a drug addict sees a photo of a drug, this will affect the activity of his brain by raising so-called late positive potentials. This is a clear indicator of psychological dependence. But the participants of the above experiment, who had problems with pornography, did not show such activity. And even the opposite, when seeing pictures of a sexual nature, their brain activity decreased.

“In some clinics, they give out empty promises about the curability of enormous desire of lovemaking or madness about porn. But there is no evidence of the effectiveness of such techniques,” anonymous expert warns. “I believe that many patients pay for very expensive treatment, despite the fact that it not only does not benefit but can even harm.”

Such conclusions have been criticized by the British psychiatrist Norman Doge. He explained that, contrary to the prevailing opinion, our brain does not form in childhood once and for all. It can transform, change its structure depending on reactions to repetitive pulses.

So adult video and photos reprogram our brain. Dopamine is released after sexual arousal. Gradually, the brain becomes accustomed to stimulation, and in order for the dopamine system to continue to work, the stimulation must be intensified. The objective is to get a portion of this hormone, which brings a feeling of pleasure, more and more extreme and perverse sexual impulses are required. As a result, adult content changes our hot fantasies.